Thanks to the likes of the Asus ROG Ally and the forthcoming Sony PlayStation Project Q, there's a lot of attention on gaming handhelds right now. However, it is the Nintendo Switch and the Steam Deck that continue to set the benchmark when it comes to portable gaming.
Both have also been heavily tipped for upgrades too, with rumours on a Nintendo Switch 2 ramping up in recent times, and a potential Steam Deck 2 said to be on the cards.
There are relatively few details on the latter as yet, although it's telling that the 64GB and 512GB Steam Deck models are listed as being completely sold out on Valve's dedicated website. Considering there's no indication on new stock being made available, that leads us to believe a Steam Deck 2 could well be on its way sooner than later.
And, if it looks anything like the concept posted online by Carota Design (via Yanko Design), we'll be among the first in the queue for one.
Carota isn't affiliated with Valve, so this is more a wishlist of style and features, but its renders show a reimagined, more ergonomic device, albeit with one major aspect missing – the touch pad.
While the concept display is imagined as a better, brighter touch panel, we feel the touch pad on the existing Steam Deck is somewhat essential for mouse-based strategy games. A thumbstick just doesn't work as well.
Still, everything else looks great. We particularly like the bright yellow accents that elevate the concept Steam Deck 2. We also feel it'd sit better in each palm.
Other design feature the Carota concept calls for are expanded battery life and more robust sticks and triggers – all of which highly requested by existing and future Steam Deck owners.
Of course, this is all a bit of fun right now. Valve hasn't announced a Steam Deck 2, save for commenting that a next-gen handheld is unlikely to change much internally. The processing, it said, will be there or thereabouts the same as the existing models.
If anything does change, though, we'll bring you the news as soon as it happens.
